1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle.
2. Related Background Art
Conventionally, a vehicle in which a driver sits on a driver seat and performs a driving operation is known, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2012-111305. Such a vehicle includes a driver seat on which a driver sits, and the driver seat has a backrest section extending upward from the rear of a seat section directed in a horizontal direction. The driver sits on the driver seat, rests the driver's waist and back against the backrest section, stretches legs in a forward direction from the driver seat to take the seat, and performs a driving operation. That is, the driver drives the vehicle in a posture of putting feet ahead of the waist and knees and leaning the back against the backrest section.
Japanese Patent No. 3853654, and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H04-317882 and No. 2013-112235 are examples of the related art.
Vehicles in which a driving operation is performed in a good healthy driving posture are desirably developed. For example, in the above-mentioned vehicle, the driver drives in a posture of putting the feet ahead of the waist and the knees and leaning the back against the backrest section. In this case, retroversion moment occurs in the pelvis by influences of hamstring muscles of the legs stretching forward, and the driver's back tends to stoop due to retroversion of the pelvis. In addition, a main point of the upper body portion affected by gravity (for instance, a lumbar vertebra) and a main point of a seat surface reaction (for instance, a portion around a hipbone) are shifted in forward and rearward directions in a side view, thereby allowing the retroversion moment to occur in the pelvis. The driver's back tends to be in a stooped posture due to the retroversion of the pelvis. For this reason, it is difficult to mention this posture as a good healthy driving posture.
In the driving posture, the driving operation is performed in a state in which muscular strength used in everyday life is not used very much, and as such, the balance of muscular strength of rotation of the spinal cord may be mismatched due to lack of utilization of the muscular strength.
Accordingly, in the field of the present technique, it is desired to provide a healthy vehicle achieved by enabling a driving operation using muscular strength of the legs to be performed in a good driving posture.
That is, according to an aspect of the present invention, a vehicle is a vehicle having a pair of left and right wheels and the vehicle includes a seating section configured such that an occupant is able to take a seat by straddling the same, foot placement sections located beneath the seating section to be respectively provided at left and right positions with the seating section interposed therebetween, the foot placement sections being respectively supported by lower arms connected to the wheels, feet of the seated occupant being placed on the foot placement sections, and a grip section gripped with a hand of the occupant, wherein the foot placement sections are configured to rotate by movement of the feet of the occupant, and enable steering to be performed to the left and the right by rotation of the foot placement sections.
The vehicle includes the seating section configured such that the occupant is able to take the seat by straddling the same, and the foot placement sections provided at the left and right positions with the seating section interposed therebetween. Thereby, the occupant has a posture in which a head, a waist, and feet of the occupant are positioned in a nearly straight line in a vertical direction when the occupant sits on the seating section and places the feet on the foot placement sections. For this reason, retroversion of the pelvis of the occupant due to seating is suppressed and a seating posture is suppressed from being a stooped posture. Therefore, a good healthy driving posture can be assumed.
In addition, since the foot placement sections are supported by the lower arms, the vehicle is easily inclined in a lateral direction by keeping or kicking the feet placed on the foot placement sections and the inclined state is easily adjusted. Furthermore, since a steering operation is performed by moving the feet placed on the foot placement sections by the occupant, the steering operation can be performed using the leg muscles used in everyday life and a driving operation may be performed using the leg muscles. Furthermore, in the driving posture in which the head, the waist, and the feet of the occupant are positioned in a nearly straight line in the vertical direction, weight of the occupant is facilitated so as to be put on the feet and the steering operation according to twisting of the feet is easily performed. As such, the driving operation using the leg muscles can be performed in a good driving posture and the healthy vehicle can be provided.
The vehicle according to the aspect of the present invention may further include wheel steering effort transfer mechanisms that transfer steering effort to the wheels according to rotation of the foot placement sections, and the foot placement sections may be configured to rotate by movement of the feet of the occupant, and enable steering to be performed to the left and the right through the wheel steering effort transfer mechanisms by rotation of the foot placement sections.
In this case, the vehicle includes the wheel steeling effort transfer mechanisms which transfer steering effort to the wheels according to the rotation of the foot placement sections. Thereby, the steering effort may be transferred to wheels according to rotation of the foot placement sections by moving the feet by the occupant or the like and the vehicle can be surely turned.
The vehicle according to the aspect of the present invention may further include a right lower arm connected to a right wheel of the wheels and a left lower arm connected to a left wheel of the wheels, and the right and left lower arms may be mounted so as to be rotatable about the same axial line extending in a forward and rearward direction.
In this case, the right lower arm connected to the right wheel and the left lower arm connected to the left wheel are mounted so as to be rotatable about the same axial line. Accordingly, when the vehicle is turned, a variation in position of the lower arm to which each foot placement section is mounted is decreased, and a variation in height position between the left and right lower arms is decreased. For this reason, the feet of the occupant are suppressed from significantly moving in the vertical direction when the vehicle is turned, and thus a stable driving operation can be performed.
The vehicle according to the aspect of the present invention may further include a front wheel provided in front of the seating section and a rear wheel provided behind the seating section, in addition to the wheels. Furthermore, the vehicle according to the aspect of the present invention may further include a front wheel steering effort transfer mechanism that transfers steering effort to the front wheel according to the rotation of the foot placement sections, and the foot placement sections enable steering to be performed to the left and the right through the front wheel steering effort transfer mechanism by rotation of the foot placement sections.
According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a healthy vehicle achieved by enabling a driving operation using muscular strength of the legs to be performed in a good driving posture.